The control elements according to the invention are used, for example, in vehicles for driving electrical and/or electronic components. These control elements are supposed to be able to trigger several functions, for example in order to reduce the number of control elements and/or to activate different functions assigned to a device. Such control elements are also known by the term toggle switch and are installed, for example, in steering wheels, for adjusting the external mirrors or the seat in motor vehicles.
DE 100 63 760 A1 describes a control element with an actuating element, wherein the latter is pivotable about two spatial axes. A sensor with a corresponding evaluation circuit is provided for detecting the movements of the actuating element. A control surface of the actuating element is provided with a trough-shaped depression for placing a finger of a hand therein. The advantages of a trackball are supposed to be thus combined with those of a joystick. The control element requires a complex electronic system and evaluation of the signals and is relatively tall when assembled.
US 2002/0066653 A1 describes an input device in which at least one key is disposed in a housing. The key is mounted in a spherical socket-shaped recess of the housing, with the key having a corresponding spherical underside. The key comprises four perpendicularly offset plungers pointing downwards in the housing, to which corresponding clearances in the housing are assigned. In order to actuate the key, it is pressed in a place where one of the plungers is disposed. Thus, the key is tilted and pushes the plunger through the corresponding clearance onto an associated switch. The guidance of the key is not very precise because actuation may result in faulty switching operations and/or jamming between two plungers.
A rocker switch designed for several tilting directions is known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,941, which is capable of triggering a dual-stage switching operation with each rocking direction. The rocker switch comprises a housing in which an interior space is formed in the shape of a spherical layer. A part of the rocker also formed as a spherical layer is guided in the spherical layer. Both spherical layers are configured such that the circumference of the spherical layers decreases from the lower sectional plane of the spherical layers towards the upper sectional layer. Thus, the rocker must be additionally supported in the downward direction. All the contacts and contact elements of the rocker switch are disposed on a silicone mat. Production of this known rocker switch is complex.